Wednesday Reading Meme on Friday

[osprey_archer]

I have been ill, so this Wednesday Reading Meme is alas two days late!

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

I reread Francesca Forrest’s “The Bee Wife,” (Amazon link here, but available through other retailers as well), which I have been gently prodding her to publish ever since she first let me read it. A lovely sweet and sad story about a beekeeper who loses his wife Joy, and the bees try to comfort him by forming a replacement Joy…

Love the magic of the bees and the characterization of the children, five children over a wide span of ages trying to understand the appearance of this new mother, and the story’s grounding in Catholicism. Is this a miracle? Witchcraft? Can the magic of the bees be holy, since we thank them specially for their candles at Easter? Shout out to the overwhelmed priest who is not at all sure what to do about an apparently resurrected Joy showing up at the church door, and even less sure when she assures him, “I am a new creation.”

What I’m Reading Now

My mother kindly delivered my hold on Our Mutual Friend when it arrived at the library, so I have at long last started reading it! So far, it’s about making your living by pulling dead bodies from the river and emptying their pockets of all their moveables before handing them over to the police (the river always seems to turn pockets inside out, the boatman says ingenuously), and a guy who is reading The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire to a pair of retired servants who have come into a fortune.

What I Plan to Read Next

I have been eyeing the latest Newbery winner, Erin Entrada Kelly’s The First State of Being, with misery and dread since I got it from the library, but I suppose I’d better get it over with.

Comments

[troisoiseaux]

Hope you feel better! And AHHHHHH you're reading Our Mutual Friend!!!

[osprey_archer]

This is a weird little (actually quite large) book and I am very curious to see where it goes.

[sholio]

Ugh, being sick is no fun; I hope you're feeling much better! <3

[osprey_archer]

I am on the mend today! Still not 100% but well enough to putter about taking care of things that were neglected during my illness.

[msilverstar]

You've made me want to read Dickens for the first tiime in decades!

[osprey_archer]

He's just got so much going on in this book.

[asakiyume]

😘🙏🏻

Feel better soon!

[osprey_archer]

I am slowly mending! Trying to hold myself back so I didn't overdo it and relapse.

[asakiyume]

Restraint for the win. Literally! The health win.

[rachelmanija]

Why the misery and dread? The premise sounds fun.

[osprey_archer]

She's already won one Newbery award and one honor and I didn't like either book and while it is POSSIBLE that third time is the charm, it is also possible that she will manage to suck all the fun out of the premise.

[rachelmanija]

Dud she do the cancer tiger book?

[osprey_archer]

No, the tiger cancer book was When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller. Erin Entrada Kelly did one about the Challenger explosion and one ensemble piece that was not scarring but was pretty mediocre in all directions.

[rachelmanija]

Dear God.

[osprey_archer]

I knew where we were going as soon as the Challenger was mentioned, but I bet it was fun for the kiddies who didn't.